Generally described, computing devices and communication networks can be utilized to exchange information. In a common application, a computing device can request content from another computing device via the communication network. For example, a user at a personal computing device can utilize a software application process, typically referred to as a browser, to request a Web page from a server computing device via the Internet. In such embodiments, the user computing device can be referred to as a client computing device, and the server computing device can be referred to as a content provider.
With reference to an illustrative example, a requested Web page may be associated with a number of additional resources, including static content and dynamic content. For dynamic content, such as video images or video streaming, client computing devices receiving a continuous transmission of content from a content provider require consistent processing of the incoming dynamic content, such as decoding encoded content. From the perspective of a user utilizing a client computing device, a user experience can be defined in terms of the performance and latencies associated with obtaining a Web page, processing embedded resource identifiers, and rendering content on the client computing device. Latencies and performance limitations of any of the above processes may diminish the user experience. Additionally, latencies and inefficiencies may be especially apparent on computing devices such as netbooks, tablets, smartphones, and the like, which may have limited resources in terms of processing power, memory, or network connectivity.